Ride 23/04/2023

3 of us on the bun run today although it did swell to 4 after Knockhill but given the weather and people doing the Etape Loch Ness, there weren’t many of us left. I started out early as usual to get some extra miles in, given this is my first week at cycling 5 days a week I’m going to take Sunday’s ride as a recovery ride and not ride hard, or a least try to I headed into Kelty and up to Blairadam and along to Saline before turning back to Dunfermline to meet the group for the start of the usual Sunday bun run. Only Bill and Findlay turned up so we left Dunfermline for the normal route to the cafe stop. We meet up with Rachael after getting to the bottom of Knockhill which meant there were now 4 of us. Usual coffee and cake at the cafe stop before heading the normal route home. I headed down to Dalgety Bay as I was looking to cycle 75 miles today, before heading back up to Crossgates thus clocking up 67 miles at an avg speed of 16 mph, which I’m not sure qualifies as a recovery ride, that’s still quite fast, and I did floor it a bit up Cairneyhill which was why I hit a 193 bpm but overall I still feel fine which is good.

Ride 22/04/2023

Sunny but blustery day, a little on the chilly side in the morning but warming up in the afternoon. 6 of us on the 08:30 crew hammering it to the cafe stop since we had a strong tailwind getting there. Of course this would mean a strong headwind getting back home again. The usual food at the cafe before we continued on our way, only just catching the 09:00 group as we departed the cafe. We did a slow chain gang on the way back as the headwind was strong, so we all took a turn at the front pushing wind. When we got to Knockhill we had a side wind most of the way so things eased up a bit for a while, at least until I got to Dunfermline were I was on my own full headwind back to home So given the weather conditions I didn’t do too bad, clocked up 50 miles at an avg speed of 17 mph

Ride 16/04/2023 Galashiels Randonee

So today was another Club Randonne with 8 of us doing the ride. We would be starting in Galashiels and doing a loop down to Eskdalemuir for our cafe stop. It was a overcast day with a few rain showers here and there but nothing too bad. We were up against a slight headwind to start with going up hill but the gradient was low about 3-5% so this was a fairly easy ride for me. The cafe stop was excellent I had soup and sticky toffee and custard for pudding with coffee and they were large portions so this was great We then headed back to Galashiels going a slightly different route but we had a tail wind and it was a lot of downhill so we were motoring along on the way back. So 80 miles clocked up today at an avg speed of 16 mph and what a great ride it was

Ride 15/04/2023

8 of us on the bun run this morning and weather wise it’s sunny but still pretty cold in the morning, not to windy but I still wrapped up in 3 layers to stay warm. Nothing too adventurous today, ride to the usual cafe stop then back the normal way. No extra stuff today as I’m doing the club Randonee tomorrow in Galashiels which is 80 miles long so saving a bit of energy for that So I did my usual 50 miles at an avg speed of 17 mph and that will do for today.

Ride 09/04/2023

7 of us on the bun run today, although I did start a little bit before the ride and did 15 miles to start with. I was looking to do 100 miles today so I got an early start before meeting up with the club. We headed for the usual cafe stop where I stocked up on fuel with soup, coffee and cake before heading onwards. I parted ways with the group at Kincardine bridge and headed for Denny to meet up with my Uncle to sort a computer issue out and pick up some sponsorship money. I then headed back to Kincardine bridge and followed the usual route home via Dalgety bay but was still about 20 miles short, so I did a little bit extra again by going to Cowdenbeath, into Ketly a second time and up to Kingseat before heading home and just getting my 100 miles It was a long one today and quite tiring but I got my distance thus making it the first 100 mile ride of the year at an avg speed of 16 mph, not to shabby just need to get a little bit faster

Ride 08/04/2023

5 of us on the bun run today, which was a bit surprising at the low numbers but I suppose it’s the Easter bank holiday so people will be doing other stuff. It’s even a reasonable weather day, still cold in the morning but sunny and with little wind. We headed for the cafe stop at a fare pace, about 5 minutes shy of the fastest time I’ve ever done to the cafe stop which is saying something as we avg 18 mph there, little did I know this would be the trend for the rest of the ride Anyhow scrambled egg roll and orange juice later we were back on the road. Andy wanted to do some extra mileage, which was fine with me, so we skipped out Knockhill and headed for Milnathort and Kinross. I should point out Andy is a Semi Pro rider, ie he does it for a job. I was not expecting the pace to be so high but thankfully Andy was happy to lead all the way and I just had to keep up, and that was only possible by drafting him all the way Even with the drafting there was a point where I got dropped and I tried to catch back on, with me absolutely flat out at 196 bpm I did not catch him, no big surprise there at least he waited for me So today I did 55 miles in the fastest time I think I’ve ever done at a lung splitting avg speed of 18.6 mph, suffice to say I got a good work out today

Ride 02/04/2023

Better weather day today, not quite as cold as yesterday, no rain and not windy, it even brightened up in the afternoon with some sunshine which warmed the day up so it actually turned the day into a good day to ride. I was looking to ride 80 miles today so I started before the bun run and clocked up 23 miles before I meet up with the club. First going to Kelty and then up and over Knockhill, this turned out to be advantageous as unbeknownst to me the group was going to take a different route today and I was looking fro some elevation today as well. Anyway I meet up with the group and they decided to take a different route tot he normal bun run on a Sunday and decided to head to Saline, down to Dollar and along to the Coffee Bothy for the cafe stop today. So 8 of us on the bun run today along to the cafe stop where I had a “smash avocado breakfast” with coffee and cake which was most delicious After the cafe stop I lead the way back home heading around to the “Pineapple route” home, through Airth, across the Kincardine Bridge and the usual coastal route home that we would normally do on a Sunday ride. I then split from the group at Carineyhill had headed for Dalgety Bay and my normal route back up to Crossgates and home. So 80 miles clocked up at just shy of 17 mph.

Ride 01/04/2023

5 of us on the bun run today, a bit overcast and quite cold given the time of the year. I read 2 degrees Celsius by the time I got to the bottom of Knockhill, just as well as I had 4 layers on today, I was expecting it to rain but thankfully it didn’t. We had a tailwind to the cafe stop so we got there pretty fast for my scrambled egg roll and orange juice. The group didn’t want to do any extra today so we went back home the normal route down to Dollar, Yetts, Powmill and over Knockhill. So 50 miles knocked up at an avg speed of 17 mph.

Ride 26/03/2023

So todays ride was a similar ride to the one we did a couple of weeks ago to Bannockburn, stopping at the same cafe but taking a lightly different route. 6 of us on the bun run today and although it’s a bit sunnier than yesterday it’s a lot colder because of it. I started early today to get some extra mileage in before the group ride started but I wrapped up because of the colder weather. It’s not particularly windy today about the same as yesterday, so we weren’t fighting the wind all the way around, and it’s a flat route so no major climbs either. I headed down to Dalgety Bay before heading back into Dunfirmline to meet up with the guys, thus getting an extra 15 miles in before we headed to Bannockburn. We followed the same route getting there and stopped at the same cafe, which served some great food as last time, although this time I could eat what I wanted now that the dental stuff is over with poached eggs on avocado and toast, yum yum. We then took a slightly different route going back this time going via Larbert before heading back across the Kincardine bridge. Ken and I took the usual coastal road back to Dalgety Bay before I headed back up the hill to Crossgates and home. So 70 miles clocked up at an avg speed of 16 mph.

Ride 25/03/2023

8 of us on the fast group today, weather wise it’s overcast, dry with a little tail wind to start with and a head wind for the ride home. We headed the usual route to the cafe stop at a decent pace of around 17 mph and it was here that the guys decided to do some extra miles. Now I’m all up for extra mileage but on this instance I didn’t bring much extra fuel with me, normally I would carry my little gel pouch and a couple of energy bars, but all I had today was the energy bars, so that had to suffice. They wanted to skip out Knockhill and go around Loch Leven, so after my scrambled egg roll and orange juice, and thank God I got my new crown fitted yesterday so I had a full mouth of teeth today we headed out. Once around the Loch we headed for Kelty and up to Kingseat which was where I departed from the group after 60 miles and headed home. I decided to bump up the mileage to 65 miles to get me the 100k rather than finish at probably around 99k which is sad so in total I clocked up 65 miles at an avg speed of 17.5 mph and thats good for me, and I didn’t even run out of energy and crawl the last 5 miles

Ride 19/03/2023 Braco Randonee

Second Randonee of the year and this time it was around Braco. Good weather day, sunny to start with but eventually it became overcast, but we had light winds and a decent temperature, not cold but not warm, but I only had to wear 3 layers rather than the usual 4 or 5 that I’ve been wearing for the past few months 8 of us on the run today, going over Kncokhill and up through Glendevon and down to Gleneagles. With all of the hills over it was pretty much flat all the way, other than the climb I would have back up to home. The cafe stop was quite late in the ride, I had covered 45 miles before we stopped at the Coffee Bothy but it was a good lunch of soup, coffee and cake With most of the riding down it was back home via the usual Sunday bun run along the coast and back home via Dalgety Bay thus clocking up 76 miles at an avg speed of just short of 17 mph, that last damn hill climb always wrecks havoc with my speed as I was averaging 17 mph up till that point anyway a good days ride all round.

Ride 18/03/2023

So we’re back on the 08:30 wrecking crew although there aren’t many of us, only 4 today. I need to step up the training and it’s been a good 4 years since I’ve ridden with them, how things change Anyway a good weather day, no rain, no wind and not cold, slightly overcast but a good day to ride. We make good time to the cafe stop avg 18 mph to get there for the usual rolls and orange juice. Unfortunately for me I had a temp crown put in yesterday to cover me till I get my new crown next Friday and that decided to fall out whilst eating my roll, not a happy bunny >:-( Anyway I’m back at the dentist next week so I’ll live with it until then. Since this is the 08:30 ride we ride a slightly different route back to Dunfermline going up to Yetts and doing the full Knockhill climb from Powmill, this is fine with me as it affords me the full 50 mile ride without having to go down to Dalgety Bay to make it up So 50 miles clock up at a good avg speed of 17 mph